


Nice to Meet You, Again

by stinghy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Doesn't matter, M/M, Modern AU, Reincarnation AU, Soulmates, does anyone have that name nowadays?, hoffert is a very strange sounding name, keith is reincarnated with a really weird name, not much fluff sorry, outsider pov, takes place before or after canon, they always meet each other, they love each other from a previous life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 13:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13812069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stinghy/pseuds/stinghy
Summary: No matter when or where, they always meet again in each new life. However, they don't always look the same, and sometimes, even their names change. Keith isn't too lucky in this life."Hoffert, really? You were really unlucky this time.""How did you even recognize me this time?""I was getting mullet vibes through the intercom.""You’re ridiculous... and I don't even have a mullet this time.""So you admit it was a mullet before?""Shut up."





	Nice to Meet You, Again

"Ugh, this is a total waste of time." A boy with dark skin, an orange headband, and a kind but exasperated voice smacks his palms on his face, scuffing his feet on the grimy tile floor. "What am I going to do?"

"Look at this name. It's hilarious." His companion, a lanky boy, jabs his finger on the button next to the nametag Hoffert Bothenberg. "No one can seriously have this name."

The first boy still seems uncomfortable. "Lance, how will we even get into my own apartment without a key?"

Lance waves his hand in dismissal. "I'm a man of many skills, Hunk." As if in response, the single light bulb above their heads flickers and the windows shudder in the passing wind. "Wow, why do you even live here? It's supeeeer creepy." He grabs his arms, shuddering slightly, though it's obviously an act. "Let's just ask one of your neighbors instead."

"But we're probably bothering them." Fidgeting with his sweater, Hunk curls his fingers around his sleeves. A forlorn look settles on his face.

Hunk is usually fine with getting tangled up in Lance's shenanigans. Yet here he is, weary from work, locked outside, with Lance as energetic as ever. Hunk had left his key in his apartment, and now couldn't even get up to his floor. In his own words, Lance had "the most brilliant" idea. If he could get up to the door, he would pick the lock.

Hunk was not going to ask where Lance got that skill.

"Don't worry!" Lance grins maniacally. "With that name, it's probably just an old geezer."

The intercom buzzes and crackles.

_"Who is it?"_

The voice is surprisingly young and deep, distinctly not an old man, that Hunk barely notices Lance's sharp intake of breath.

Hunk replies to finally settle their predicament. "I got locked out of my apartment. Could you let us up?"

There's a crackle of noise.

 _"Okay."_ The crackly static stops and the line goes dead.

The door clicks and Hunk starts walking up. Unbeknownst to him, Lance is standing stock still behind him. Turning around, Hunk notices his missing friend.

"Are you coming?" Hunk feels something amiss. Lance is never like this—ever.

Jolting his head, Lance seems to snap out of a trance. "Uh, yeah." He races to follow. If Lance's steps are slightly more antsy or his face slightly more sweaty, Hunk does not say anything.

What is wrong with him?

* * *

 

"Hoffert, really? You were really unlucky this time."

"How did you even recognize me this time?"

"I was getting mullet vibes through the intercom."

"You’re ridiculous... and I don't even have a mullet this time."

"So you admit it was a mullet before?"

"Shut up."

* * *

 

Pidge had always known that Lance was, well… weird. He always seemed to know too much and be a bit too mature. Even if he was a goofball often, he had moments of solemn contemplation.

But now, he is just being _distracting_.

Pidge wants to ignore him so bad. Here they are, the three friends—Hunk, Pidge, and Lance— sitting together watching a movie, and Lance just will not stay still. The movie wasn't particularly interesting, it was another cheesy parody, but seriously!

She glances at Hunk, but he has known Lance for so long that he can tune him out seemingly at will. However, Pidge met them only a few years ago, and she has still not acquired that (very necessary) skill.

Lance's elbow jabs her, once again, in the side. Yeah, that's it, she can't take it anymore.

"Stop it!" Pidge grabs the clicker and shuts off the television. "What's wrong now?"

Hunk gasps, finally realizing what had been happening.

Lance's eyes are wide with surprise. "What?"

"You're twitching!"

"Am not!"

"Are, too!"

Their banter goes back and forth for far too long as they both grapple for the remote. It's probably broken by now after how many times it has hit the wall.

In one less than graceful throw, the remote lands next to Hunk. He darts for it and holds it high above his head. Being the tallest of the group, Lance and Pidge have no chance of getting it back.

"Okay, settle down." Hunk stares down his friends. He has always had an uncanny ability to placate them. "You guys are being weirder than usual."

Pidge sighs. "It's Lance's fault," she raises her arms in surrender, yet her posture is still tense. "He," she glares pointedly at Lance, "has been acting weird all week."

"Really?" Hunk taps his foot, as if expecting a serious response. "What's happening, dude?"

"Nope, nope, nope." Lance sputters. "We are NOT doing this." Panicking, he looks around. "I just remembered, I need... um... to buy some... Spanish dictionaries."

"You're bilingual," Pidge kinda enjoys watching her friend squirm.

"Why would you need more than one?" Hunk says at the same time as Pidge.

However, Pidge needs to put her foot down. At this rate, she will make no progress in learning about Lance's strange behavior as of late. Pidge hates to do this (that's a lie, she loves to do this), but desperate times call for desperate measures. "Tell me or I'll leak the images on your 'special' file."

Horror strikes his face. "You wouldn't…"

"Try me." Pidge narrows her eyes, as an eerie feeling festers in the room.

She looks particularly menacing, and Hunk would normally have settled her down, but he is too invested in Lance's secret to do anything.

"FINE!" Realizing she couldn't be more serious, Lance flounders around on the ground. Finally regaining his composure, he sits on the ground, his legs folded beneath him. "...I met someone."

"What?" Pidge and Hunk both gasp.

In the few years she has known him, Pidge has never seen Lance in a relationship. Sure, he loves to flirt around, but no one has ever reciprocated his feelings. He always seemed too flighty and unpredictable—as if waiting for something more. After a date or two, the other person always left him.

Did he really finally find someone who could handle him?

"Well, good for you." It's surprising, but Pidge still feels happy for him. Maybe they won't be able to spend as much time as a group with them from now on, but she'll suck it up because he seems so happy. "Who is it?"

Lance chokes a bit on the back of his throat. "Uh, so that's the thing." He lowers his voice until it is barely audible. "It'syourneighborHoffert."

There's a pregnant pause. Pidge and Hunk stare down a brightly blushing Lance, who futilely tries to burrow his face in his hands.

"Did you just say what I thought you did?" Pidge can't believe it. She really, really wants to laugh right now, but it would probably kill the mood. No matter how many times she thought about it, Hoffert really was an atrociously terrible name.

"Nope. You definitely heard wrong." Lance starts to rise. "Well it looks like it's time for me to go—"

Pidge grabs his wrist. "This is your house." Honestly, what was he trying to hide?

"Oh… Guess I… forgot." Lance mutters the last word as he scratches the nape of his neck.

Pidge decides to ignore that blatant lie, though she raises an eyebrow with her arms crossed across her chest. "You guys hit it off real fast."

"Yeah, it's like I've known him forever." Though Lance's tone is joking, an undercurrent of something deeper runs through it, but neither Pidge nor Hunk notice.

* * *

 

On a roof, plastic lawn chairs overturned near them, two people lie staring at the stars, fingers entwined. Perhaps it's a bit cold, but the two seem content in their own warm cocoon.

"When this life is over, we'll meet again, right?"

"Don't we always?"

"You really pulled the unlucky straw this time… Saying your name feels like having a hunk of moussaka stuck in my throat."

"Well not all of us are lucky to be born again with the same name as the first time."

"True... But it doesn't make yours any less hilarious."

"Whatever. It's nice to see you again, too."

The two smile wistfully at each other, dreaming of a time in the distant future (or perhaps the distant past) when they will touch the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> They are meant for each other~  
> Follow me on twitter. I post doodles and stuff: https://twitter.com/Stinghynachos  
> Thanks to Star (https://twitter.com/staraptures) for the beta.


End file.
